The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) is dedicated to protecting the Constitution by restoring the civil rights of registrants and their families. In order to achieve that objective, ACSOL will educate and litigate as well as support or oppose legislation. The ACSOL website and recordings are provided as a service to registrants, registrants’ families, and others for general information only. The information on the website and in the recordings are not designed to provide legal or other advice or to create an attorney-client relationship. You should not take, or refrain from taking, action based on their content. Prior results and case studies do not guarantee a similar outcome in future representations. ACSOL accepts no responsibility for any loss or damages that may result from accessing or reliance on content on the ACSOL website and recordings and disclaim, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any and all liability with respect to acts or omissions made by registrants, registrants’ families and others on the basis of content on the ACSOL website.
Important News / Announcements
Janice's Journal
General News Feed
OR: After 15 years, ex-lawyer branded as child molester wins a reversal
The Oregon Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed the conviction of a former lawyer who was found guilty in 2002 of sexually touching a 10-year-old girl in the kitchen of a McMinnville home, in a case riddled with questionable evidence. Although Bradley Christopher Holbrook has already served a 6 ¼-year prison sentence, the reversal means he will no longer be required to register as...
Foreign Minor Attempting to Meet a U.S. Sex Offender Intercepted by CBP officers at LAX
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers assigned to the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) intercepted a 17-year-old male citizen of New Zealand on Monday who was traveling alone on a one-way ticket to visit a male family member in Michigan who has two felony convictions for sexual conduct with a person under 13. Full Article
PA: Legislature to address Pa’s sex offender registration laws
A bill introduced this week in Harrisburg attempts to fix flaws in the state’s sex-offender registration system identified in a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision in July and could affect more than 10,000 registrants. Full Article
NH: Public pool can’t ban sex offender
PORTSMOUTH -- City Attorney Robert Sullivan confirmed he recently met with a group of people who are concerned because a registered sex offender has been using the Portsmouth Indoor Pool. The pool, located near the high school, is used by community members and youth and school swim teams. After the meeting, Sullivan said, he reached out to the American Civil Liberties Union of New...
SMITH: International Megan’s Law working to protect children
New Jersey’s Maureen and Richard Kanka’s courage and perseverance through unspeakable tragedy — the sexual abuse and murder of their daughter Megan in 1994 — has brought significant protection to children across our state, the U.S. and throughout the world. Full Article
General Comments December 2017
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of December 2017. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
A new scarlet letter for harassment charges (Editorial)
In an effort to encourage a more equitable system of justice in this country — something to which any number of legislators, unprincipled prosecutors and judges seem opposed — I believe it would be in our best interest to treat all those charged with sexual harassment and sexual misconduct the same way we treat all sex offenders. Full Editorial
CO: Town of Palisade lowers fee sex offenders are required to pay to register
[thedenverchannel.com] PALISADE, Colo. – In a move designed to encourage compliance from offenders, the town of Palisade has lowered the fees associated with registering as a sex offender. The decision to lower the fee from $75 a year to $25 a year was made earlier this month by the Board of Trustees, Denver7 news partner KJCT reported. The Palisade Police Department asked the board...
Concerns with adding juveniles to sex registry lists
A national practice since the late 1990s, sex offender registration and community notification for adult offenders has correlated with significant drops in the rates of sex offenses. Nevertheless, there remains significant debate over its actual social benefits. The same cannot be said, however, for juvenile sex offender registration, which is both economically disastrous and causes incredible hardships for children raised on the registry. This is...
MA: Lawmakers consider shining light on secret sex offenders
Secret sex offenders could soon be forced out of the shadows in Massachusetts. The state considers Level 1 sex offenders a low risk to re-offend so information about them is not available to the public, but a bill under consideration on Beacon Hill would allow people to find out if a specific person is a Level 1 offender or if a Level 1 offender...
When a Sex Offender Comes to Visit: A National Assessment of Travel Restrictions
The present study examines the registration requirements for sex offenders traveling from their resident state to another state for business or pleasure. The author contacted each state’s primary SORN office to obtain the necessary registration requirements for non-resident sex offenders, as well as where and how non-resident sex offenders can obtain this information prior to visiting that state. The findings indicate that registration requirements...
Grenada to establish sex offender’s registry
The government of Grenada has announced its plans to establish a special victims unit and enact legislation that will require convicted sex offenders to be registered as part of the efforts to combat increasing child sexual abuse and other forms of sexual violence. Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell said that it is alarming that in 2017, approximately 60 percent of all cases before the...
MN: Former sex offender challenges residence restrictions
On Oct. 2, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari in Snyder v Doe, a decision from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that said that Michigan’s sex offender registration law violated the Ex Post Facto Clause’s ban on retroactive punishment. The law restricted where former sex offenders could live. The 6th Circuit is at odds with many other opinions...
Parole violations are driving prison’s revolving door
[Richmond Times-Dispatch] (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Shawn D. Bushway, University at Albany, State University of New York and David J. Harding, University of California, Berkeley (THE CONVERSATION) Rapper Meek Mill is back in prison in Pennsylvania for violating the terms of his probation. According to officials, Mill left the state without permission,...
OK: Tenth Circuit COA upholds Oklahoma driver’s license requirement
[NARSOL] By Robin . . . Unpersuaded by the court-appointed counsel’s encouragement to read a prison inmate’s pro se lawsuit liberally enough to include a First Amendment complaint, the Tenth Circuit has affirmed a lower Court’s judgment dismissing a challenge to Oklahoma’s requirement that citizens convicted of an “aggravated sex offense” must have their driver’s licenses (and state-issued identification cards) stamped with the words...
IL: Sex offender back in court on internet access issue
A Normal man whose sexual abuse case is at the center of a legal debate over whether sex offenders should have access to the internet was back in court Monday, after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review his case. Full Article
CA: We Are Now a Protected Class!
If you, like most of us, have a conviction on your record, beginning on January 1, 2018 you will belong to what might be called a “protected class” for hiring purposes. The California State Legislature passed and Governor Brown signed AB 1088 that will require employers to remove the “Box” on employment forms and require that they not ask any questions related to an...
France: Teacher who had ‘affair’ with 14-yr-old pupil avoids jail
[abs-cbn.com] Fontainebleau, France - A French teacher was handed a suspended jail sentence Monday for having sex with a 14-year-old pupil, the latest of several cases fueling debate over the age of consent. French teacher to be tried for sex with pupil aged 14 The 31-year-old maths teacher had an affair for several months with the girl this year after they struck up a...
Therapy for Sexual Misconduct? It’s Mostly Unproven
[New York Times] The recent surge in accusations of sexual harassment and assault has prompted some admitted offenders to seek professional help for the emotional or personality distortions that underlie their behavior. “My journey now will be to learn about myself and conquer my demons,” the producer Harvey Weinstein said in a statement in October. The actor Kevin Spacey announced that he would be...
CA: LA’s Hidden Sex Offender Problem is about to Get Worse
A few hours before Los Angeles voters went to the polls for a recent election, an unaccompanied man hauled voting equipment and confidential voter information into an LA elementary school’s auditorium through a front entrance as early arriving children and teachers trickled in during the early part of the 6am hour. According to the LAUSD and the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder, this man’s presence...